A Shanghai online gamer has been given a suspended death sentence for killing a fellow gamer. Qui Chengwei stabbed Zhu Caoyuan in the chest when he found out he had sold his virtual sword for 7,200 Yuan (£473). The sword, which Mr Qui had lent to Mr Zhu, was won in the popular online game Legend of Mir 3. Attempts to take the dispute to the police failed because there is currently no law in China to protect virtual property. Read more here. [Edited on 6-9-2005 by vicicasas]
Maybe he thought he could "resurrect" his friend later since he had enough mana and potion to cast the spell.
a very disturbing news indeed...tragic...:no: :dead: i still can't believe anyone could sell/purchase a virtual sword or property with real cash...hmmmm.
I've heard that some kids playing Ragnarok have made a business of selling powerful characters they've built up to the highest bidder.
I dont think it matters whether or not "virtual property" is recognized under the law. What is recognized is that murder is a crime. My understanding is that the murderer can only be excused if he did the act in some form of self defense, which is clearly not the case here. Perhaps he can argue temporary insanity whereby he was enraged at his friend for selling this item to the point of not being able to think clearly???
Well, you have to be hooked on MMORPGS to understand why it becomes so important to some people. Ebay has lots of "virtual stuff" available to gamers who want high-end in-game gear and are willing to pay for it. And there are companies that traffic in virtual goods, and even have "currency converters" that will exchange, say, World of Warcraft gold pieces for US dollars. The most popular of these companies is IGE ("Leading in Online Game Virtual Trading: Currency, Items, Accounts, and More!") Sample screenshot from IGE's WoW page:
My friend, actually officemate, who is laughing at my side right now sells 1million zenies (ragnarok online money) for 50philippine pesos I asked him just now the forex rate and the above is his answer randy
i know this guy who does buy and sell items for ragnarok the M.O is you meet up in an internet cafe then he shows you his items available and you pay him cash for the items
ah, the virtual pim-ping of goods, and even "services" has been prevalent, especially among ragnarok players. They were even featured in channel 7 yata or was that channel 2? Actually, I think this might be the reason why ragnarok is already offering "marriage" services at their servers. It must be to have virtual conjugal property. Pero, lets say, you found your online wife/husband parading in ragna-land with another partner? And you caught them in the act of walking around? will killing the new partner be defended by temporary virtual insanity? This are strange times that we are living in now. Tantin
I think sometimes we need to realize that there is a life beyond the confines of our computer monitors. Sad news, and yes, very strange times.
This is disturbing...but i guess since am not into online gaming I really can't fully comprehend the rationale behind such an act.
i'm not into online gaming either...strange though, :no: these people need to be reminded that there's a world outside their computer walls....a real one, i might add.
well maybe that shanghai-nese guy thought.. "ahh 1,000,000,000 of us... who would miss you" sabay saksak. .. i know its no laughing matter.. baliw siya for doing that..i'm just trying to see it from his side.
Well, at the end of the day a life has been lost and nothing can be done to bring it back. Is a virtual sword worth the loss of life? Sigh... there's a real world out there. These people should realize that. And no sword is worth taking a life for, virtual or otherwise.
A bit OT, this thread is making me think back to my RPG days: D&D, Top Secret, Marvel Superheroes, Star Frontiers. Though neither my friends or I ever got so involved in a game that we actually came close to inflicting actual physical harm on one another, we did get pretty emotional over the death of a character we had nurtured to say, the 20th level or the loss of a powerful artifact we had spent hours campaigning for. The lines delineating the real and the imaginary world could get pretty fuzzy when one was in the midst of roleplaying. I guess this was the precursor of what's going on right now in cyberspace wherin one's virtual life sometimes intrudes into the actual world and starts dictating one's actions. Kinda scary when the person can't tell the difference anymore.
